South Florida’s top tribute bands: Where to see them in concert
After a show last weekend in Melbourne, a woman approached AJ Navarrete, vocalist for The Smiths tribute band Ordinary Boys. She came with a compliment — and a confession.
“Man, you guys are so much fun. It’s almost like watching a concert in the ’80s, with the energy and the music,” she said, in Navarrete’s recollection. “But I honestly came here tonight to see how bad this was gonna be. I wanted to see how laughable it was gonna be.”
After more than a dozen years traveling the United States sharing beloved songs by The Smiths and singer Morrissey, Navarrete understands the skepticism of the faithful who have never seen Ordinary Boys perform, who wonder how they dare to attempt this sacred music?
“I put my arm around her and I looked at her square in the face, and I said, ‘You’re not the first one that’s ever told us that,’” Navarrete says, laughing.
Such is the life of a South Florida tribute band — especially the groups who simulate music created by bands whose peak performances still feel contemporary.
While there are plenty of tribute bands devoted to classic-rock legends such as The Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd roaming the region, the genre has been growing due to groups who pay homage to younger acts. The next several weeks will include South Florida performances by bands dedicated to the music of No Doubt, Radiohead, Jane’s Addiction, U2 and Pearl Jam.
“They bring in customers. People seem to love the tribute bands,” says David Mathews, owner of Mathews Brewing Co. in Lake Worth Beach, which has consistently booked tributes to everyone from Rush and Pink Floyd to Alice in Chains and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“They’re very entertaining, they’re fun, they actually sound pretty good. They have a good stage show, and a lot of them have a good fan base, and they know how to market themselves, if you look at their Instagram and Facebook,” he says.
Mathews says he’s seeing more local cover bands — groups that play music by many bands from a particular era — venturing into the tribute arena to focus on a single act. On Sept. 2, the brewery will host the Tropical Heat Wave Rock Music Festival, which will include the first performance by Nothing’s Shocking, a Jane’s Addiction tribute that is a side project for bassist Todd Deason of Fort Lauderdale cover band One Rebellion.
“Look at the music that’s out now. It’s not like it was before,” Mathews says. “And you have to look at my crowd, they’re 30-50s. They really like music from the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s. This is the music they grew up with.”
Ordinary Boys are scheduled to perform on Sept. 9 at Revolution Live in Fort Lauderdale during the alternative flea market known as The Black Market. They will do a set of Smiths/Morrissey songs and also perform as their alter ego New Dawn Fades, a tribute to the music of Joy Division and New Order.
The Cuban-born Navarrete, who came up in the Miami music scene, now lives in Hollywood. His day job is a serious one: environmental health and safety officer for a chemical-manufacturing plant that makes supplies for the pool industry.
Navarrete, 46, created Ordinary Boys on a lark: In 2010, iconic Miami live-music venue Churchill’s Pub was putting on tribute shows of indie favorites like David Bowie and Nirvana. Quality was loosely monitored.
“It was very character-driven, with wigs and everyone playing really, really badly,” he says. “It was more about, ‘Hey, let’s get some people in here to spend money on beer.’”
Then a drummer for the band Rebel, Navarrete pitched Churchill’s on the idea for a tribute devoted to The Smiths and Morrissey, the band’s lonely misanthrope. Together they devised an anti-Valentine’s Day debut for Ordinary Boys (named for a song written for Morrissey’s 1988 album “Viva Hate”).
The club was slammed, with a line around the block, Navarrete says. The crowd included a representative from Respectable Street in West Palm Beach, who booked Ordinary Boys at the popular Clematis Street indie-rock club. The band has been packing them in ever since.
Navarrete was not then obsessed with the music of The Smiths the way many fans are, but he was quickly persuaded.
“Preparing for that show and studying the lyrics, I found that, man, this makes a lot more sense to me than not. Maybe not the ‘I’d rather get hit by a bus’ kind of thing, but the lonely hearts club portion of it was definitely speaking to me,” he says.
In concert, Navarrete’s vocals are effectively Morrissey, his rich baritone vibrating with the singer’s familiar inflections. Physically, he is a commanding figure at 6-foot-3, but is more a suggestion of Morrissey than carbon copy, relying on subtle gestures. His template for the role can be found in his favorite singers growing up: Bono of U2 and Luis Miguel, the Puerto Rican-born Mexican star.
Navarrete is backed by an excellent band — guitarist Byron Lopez, bassist Craig Rittenhouse and drummer Rees Bridges — that nails the notes you’ve played in your head forever on iconic Smiths songs such as “Hand in Glove,” “This Charming Man,” “Bigmouth Strikes Again” and “How Soon is Now?”
Even if they’ve experienced it multiple times, fans of Ordinary Boys look forward to the late-set performance of “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out,” which invariably evolves into a particularly impassioned mass sing-along.
Looking out and watching fans who may have seen The Smiths in their 1980s heyday next to younger fans clearly new to the music, Navarrete feels the magic of the moment.
“I’m standing there and singing 25% of the song, and the crowd sings the rest,” he says. “If the crowd is still into it at that point, and they want to come into the circle and sing along, then we’ve done our job.”
Here come the tribute bands
Now that you are suitably in the mood, here are more than three dozen concerts by a variety of tribute bands in venues from Fort Lauderdale and Pompano Beach to Boca Raton and West Palm Beach over the next 30 days:
Aug. 25: Subliminal Doubt (No Doubt tribute) and Live From ’05 (Paramore) at Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale; JoinTheRevolution.net
Aug. 25:The Long Run (Eagles) at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, Boca Raton; CrazyUncleMikes.com
Aug 25:Crazy Fingers (Grateful Dead) at Tarpon River Brewing, Fort Lauderdale; TarponRiverBrewing.com
Aug. 26:Radiohead tribute by Lavola & Friends, along with Sweet Bronco, at Respectable Street, West Palm Beach; RespectableStreet.com
Aug 26:Tony Wilson (James Brown tribute) and Joey Gilmore (B.B. King) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Aug. 26: Maiden Mania (Iron Maiden) and The DIRTT (Mötley Crüe) at Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale; JoinTheRevolution.net
Aug. 26:Dark Side of the Sol (Pink Floyd) at Mathews Brewing Co., Lake Worth Beach; MathewsBrewingCompany.com
Aug. 26: Roll the Stones (Rolling Stones) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Aug. 26:Wide Awake (U2) at Pompano Beach Brewing Co.; Facebook.com/pompanobeachbrewing
Aug. 30: The Beagles (Beatles/Eagles) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Aug. 31:The Australian Pink Floyd Show (Pink Floyd) at Broward Center, Fort Lauderdale; BrowardCenter.org
Sept. 1:Completely Unchained (Van Halen) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Sept. 2:Tropical Heat Wave Rock Music Festival, featuring Nothing’s Shocking (Jane’s Addiction), 46 & Tool (Tool) and Maximum Friction (heavy metal) at Mathews Brewing Co., Lake Worth Beach; Facebook.com/mathewsbrewing
Sept. 2: The Petty Hearts (Tom Petty) and Touch & Go (The Cars) at Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale; JoinTheRevolution.net
Sept. 2: Petty Camp Junction (Tom Petty/John Mellencamp) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Sept. 2:Turnstiles (Billy Joel) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Sept. 3:Doors Alive (The Doors) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Sept. 7:Hot Legs (Tina Turner) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Sept. 7:Arrival From Sweden (ABBA) at The Parker, Fort Lauderdale; ParkerPlayhouse.com
Sept. 8:Kiss America (KISS) and Cult Revolution (The Cult) at Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale; JoinTheRevolution.net
Sept. 8: Noise Pollution (AC/DC) at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, Boca Raton; CrazyUncleMikes.com
Sept. 8:Rock of ABBA (ABBA and more) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Sept. 8: Smokin’/Renegade (Boston/Styx) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Sept. 9: The Black Market Presents Goth Homecoming, featuring Ordinary Boys (The Smiths/Morrissey), their alter ego New Dawn Fades (Joy Division/New Order) and others at Revolution Live, Fort Lauderdale; JoinTheRevolution.net
Sept. 9:True Rumours (Fleetwood Mac) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Sept. 15:Afterimage (Rush) at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, Boca Raton; CrazyUncleMikes.com
Sept. 15: Surfin’ Rascals (Beach Boys) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Sept. 16:Led Zep Live (Led Zeppelin) at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, Boca Raton; CrazyUncleMikes.com
Sept. 16:True Rumours (Fleetwood Mac) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Sept. 20:Dire Straits Legacy (Dire Straits) at The Parker, Fort Lauderdale; ParkerPlayhouse.com
Sept. 21:The Expanding Man (Steely Dan) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Sept. 22:Still Alive (Pearl Jam tribute) at Mathews Brewing Co., Lake Worth Beach; MathewsBrewingCompany.com
Sept. 22: Completely Unchained (Van Halen) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Sept. 22: Best of Both Worlds (Van Halen), Rhoads of Ozzy (Ozzy Osbourne/Randy Rhoads), Lita Corvette (Lita Ford) at Crazy Uncle Mike’s, Boca Raton; CrazyUncleMikes.com
Sept. 23:Touch & Go (The Cars) at Mathews Brewing Co., Lake Worth Beach; MathewsBrewingCompany.com
Sept. 23:Majesty of Rock (Journey/Styx) at Galuppi’s, Pompano Beach; Galuppis.com
Sept. 23: Doors Alive (Doors) at The Funky Biscuit, Boca Raton; FunkyBiscuit.com
Staff writer Ben Crandell can be reached at bcrandell@sunsentinel.com. Follow on Instagram @BenCrandell and Twitter @BenCrandell.
